Contents

Abstract

This report presents the results of a rapid desk-based review of
academic and grey literature on land issues in Sierra Leone, with a
particular focus on literature from 2002 onwards. The review explored
land ownership and rights in both the Western Area and the other
provinces and the concept of land as an actual and potential driver of
conflict (both violent and non-violent).

While inequitable land access is believed to have been a driver of the
civil war, there is a lack of recent academic literature that connects
land issues to existing conflict. However, grey literature raises fears
that land issues continue to be a simmering source of conflict. Academic
research from 2012 also suggests that investment projects have the
potential to reinforce existing inequalities and could stir resentment.

There is broad agreement in the literature that the present land tenure
system and administration need to be reformed in order to address both
land access issues and labour mobility. Despite the Government of Sierra
Leone’s stated policies and legislation, women still have limited
opportunities to own land and land reform has made slow progress.
Although there is no firm data on the incidence of land disputes through
courts, they are believed to be on the rise. Women and outsiders are
effectively excluded from access to justice through the customary court
system.

Academic literature suggests that power dynamics have changed in rural
areas since the war, but Paramount Chiefs and elders of landowning
family lineages still hold more power over local land allocation than
locally elected councils. Chiefs have traditionally controlled access to
land by individuals of lower social status such as outsiders, women and
young men. There is some indication that inter-generational relations
and relations between weaker groups and chiefs have improved in recent
years.

Among anecdotal sources, there is a significant perception of ‘land
grabbing’ by foreign companies involved in large bio-fuel and other
projects, which cannot be easily verified due to lack of accurate land
use records or research. Anecdotally, NGOs, civil society and human
rights groups have documented outbreaks of violence in response to such
projects.

Further evidence is required to draw firm conclusions on both foreign
and domestic investment in terms of their impact on access to land and
their role in sparking land disputes or violent conflict. NGOs are
calling for greater transparency in land deals and informed consent,
which could help to mitigate the risk of conflict.

This report has been produced for Evidence on Demand with the assistance
of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) contracted
through the Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods
Professional Evidence and Applied Knowledge Services (CEIL PEAKS)
programme, jointly managed by HTSPE Limited and IMC Worldwide Limited.